A Clockwerk Origin
by olirulz111
Summary: A short story explaining the origins of the greatest enemy of the Cooper family in 4 parts.
1. The Prologue

**Part 1 – The Prologue**

**Ancient Egypt, Cairo, 1298 BC**

A slow walk is what this Ostrich is doing. Bipedally on two legs through the desert sand he shifts the sand further forward as he trudges up and down the sand dunes. There is nothing that he wants to do more than to win, to be the best and there is nothing that he will not do to get ahead. Right now he just needs time, time to think, time to figure things out and time to finally get back at Slytunkahmen.

That word, that word with too many syllables labours out of his mouth and disappears along with the wind, Just like he always did. He had seen this raccoon perform all sorts of feats unfathomable to all. Walking across ropes that are barely wide enough for his finger let along his feet. Being able to lift out objects from the unsuspecting pockets of those who have what he needs, whatever drives him to do this.

His name is not Clockwerk just yet, his name is Rameses and he is just not cut out for the profession that he prefers. His short arms and long legs make him unsightly and unable to reach far enough before his big feathered body is tickling the necks of his targets. Ever since he has saw him he wanted to be like that, doing something exciting and worthwhile (in his eyes) instead of sticking his face into the Nile and sucking up the contents.

He had tried to get into contact; together he thought that they'd be unstoppable. The raccoon could do the stealing and he would take out anyone that comes close with a swift kick to the face. It was not the case, the raccoon was too elusive and it seemed that wherever he was going to go and try to find him, he was not there. It made him feel greatly disheartened.

Soon he tried to go at it alone, trying to emulate the raccoon in what he did but whatever he tried he failed. It wasn't for the lack of trying through; he kept at it with persistence unmatched by anyone. He spent time working in labor camps for his punishment, moving heavy blocks of sandstone to build temples and other monoliths the pharaoh requested. He thought he would be ready once he was free to go, given that he was much stronger and fitter than before from all of the manual labor. He was in for a great shock.

It seemed that the raccoon had no weakness at all, and that his potential was unlimited. He thought that he could be better, it turned out that he was behind by a distance greater than the length of the Nile. He tried to look for him again but all it was for him was a blur. In and out of peoples pockets before they had even had a chance to move.

One day though, the ostrich was furious that he couldn't be better. He was going out to rid that raccoon from these streets so that he could succeed. Before he could even get out of his small hut, it seemed like he felt naked all of a sudden. All of his clothes had been relieved from his body in an instant. A stranger walked around the corner and walked back, seeing this unclothed heathen standing dumbstruck in the middle of the street. He tries to rush into his hut again but he hits the wall and falls over. He looks around and sitting on the side of his head is his clothing, the raccoon had to be here.

Once fully clothed and decent again he was in a rampage, filled with hate and anger towards this raccoon that was making a mockery of him at will. The harder he tried to find him and rid the raccoon; more of his items would be lifted from his body. Even as he constantly checked to see if they were there and pressing up against his body, they would be taken somehow in ways completely unknown to him, he would try to look and see him but he was never in his vision.


	2. The Fall

**Part 2 – The Fall**

Now he is just here walking along these shifting sands that bite into his feathers, making them dry and shriveled by the sand carried by the wind. When he takes a step, and it doesn't feel soft as he feel accustomed to feeling after this 2 hour-long walk. Nor does it feel like the same hardness as a rock. It feels unlike anything he has heard or felt before, it's smoothness and its luster are alluring. Quickly he kicks the sand around it and reveals more of this shiny material, shiny means valuable in these parts and a more and more of it is revealed it lifts him out of his slump. With the sale of this material he will be rich! He keeps moving the sand and more of it keeps appearing. He realises that it couldn't have come from the natural ground. He has been into the sandstone mines, lugging out boulders of the stuff and it comes out all craggy and rough, not like this smooth metal.

After a sizable portion of it is revealed to him, he sees a part that looks like some sort of opening, a door it turns out to be. Except is has something in it that prevents him from opening it. He kicks and kicks it repeatedly until the door opens inwardly; It opens up a chasm that he is enveloped into.

There is nothing to support him for at least a second; this is must what is feels like to fly he thinks. Flight was something he also would like to have being a bird. But he is too heavy and his wings too small to support his weight. He had seen albatrosses and owls fly above with their massive wingspan supporting their bodies, it would be nice to be like that, having the freedom of flight. It is not his primary concern though, as he hits the sandy floor with a thud, it cushions his fall sufficiently that he isn't hurt, it wouldn't be good if he is trapped here in this strange grave. He gets up and see the light from the outside peer into this strange new world he has discovered.

He sees tubes of metal in straight lines fixed to larger parts of metal, fused together somehow. He sees strange boxes of metal that have been destroyed, as their metal isn't straight or smooth like the rest, but bent and snapped. There are strange things coming out of it, they are like hairs but in bright colours, all of them. He sees some bronze coloured metal inside this squishy substance frayed all around the inside of this box. It makes no sense to him, all of these alien things. He gets up and sees all more of these things except intact this time, will tiny little things jutting out from the smooth cover. He slowly moves out his arm towards them in this partially lit environment, not knowing what they are and what he is about to do. He flicks one of them, It makes a clicking sound. There is a pause then an explosion of light from all around this cabin. It blinds him temporarily, this white light that emanates from thin strips in the corners of this compartment. The light is whiter than he has ever seen, not like the yellow/orange of the sun.

This is his secret, something that he finally has that the raccoon does not.


	3. The Discovery

**Part 3 – The Discovery**

**1 month Later**

All of his recent efforts have been to keep this place a secret from anyone else and to find out about its mysterious things that do many things from whirring and beeping to moving large things and opening other doors that he has recently tried to venture through. They reveal just more rooms of a similar nature, some small, one much, much larger. They have the same types of things, just more machines doing things that he doesn't know anything about. He just needs to find something that he can use to get himself on top finally. He has found small handheld things that he hasn't tested out yet, but there are innumerable amounts of them that he has placed in a pile in another room.

These weird things that have a tube down its length then a handle of some sort jutting off it, all of it made from the same material as this underground weirdness. He doesn't contemplate trying them out at first, but he thinks they must be important if there are so many of them. So he looks at one much closer this time, shaking it, trying to find anything that move like the switches. He sees this curved switch on the bottom just like on that console that brought about sudden brightness. He pulls it and green balls of energy come out the barrel at high velocity towards the ground, sending the gun backwards. He stops pulling it out of fear for what it has done. It has created a hole in the ground that's not very deep but it's a hole that has been created.

Suddenly he feels confident with one of them, it empowers him to conquer the last few remaining rooms that remained too deep or dark to explore before. These small green lights provide brief illumination to quickly see around the place before whatever creatures may lurk down here can be fought back from a distance.

One of the rooms is large with beds stacked on top of each other like sardines in a can. Inside of them are rotting skeletons that have flesh drooping down in a sickly and repulsive manner. The smell itself is repugnant beyond belief, instantly activating the gag reflex of the deepest ostrich in the world. Some sick vomit is added to the room, his small contribution to this mass of horrific smells around him. Holding his breath, he steps over the dismembered corpses of legions of rats in decaying yellow uniforms towards the next room on the other side.

Quickly he kicks down the door and shuts it so that the smell doesn't escape into this new room. It is completely pitch black unlike the other ones that he has encountered, except for one red light that shoots at him out of nowhere; it spreads out into a grid, examining this petrified ostrich.

'Smell content acceptable,' a computerized voice emits. 'Welcome Monsieur Le Paradox, it has been, 87, days since your last login. Status update, power at 23% capacity, will run out in, 44, days if no new rods are installed. Systems malfunctioning; Propulsion, water, flux generator, gravity encabulation collector, Internet, coffee machines in sections, 1A, 1B, 1C…'

To Rameses, this is something he doesn't understand, they are just sounds to him from this weird voice coming from something that is not living.

'Would you like a status report on project 4283?' It says. The ostrich doesn't respond, not knowing what to respond.

'Interpreting stunned silence as 'yes''. The computer says as it pauses to reroute some power to this room, which is instantly brightened up to a full white glow.

'Playing last known entry.' The computer says as it switches to a different female voice, which sounds more realistic than the monotone synthesizer.

'It's all ready for you to go now Le Paradox, 4283 has lead to some promising results! It just needs a vehicle to be placed in, which is what I've been working on recently.'

A light shines brightly on a room to the side. It opens automatically with it's huge bolts being unlocked from the small reinforced steel door. Slowly but cautiously he walks towards this door.

'This is project 2473, it's still a prototype but it has great promise.' She says a flash of white light reveals the mechanical beast. It scares this ostrich completely to the core, so much so that he runs back into the other room, afraid of certain death from this alien creature. In doing so he knock this object off it's pedestal. He catches it just in time an looks at it's intricate circuitry, it is something that could not come from this world. He stops and looks back at what he has seen, it is nothing that has come to kill him, nor is it even alive.

Yet.


	4. The Transformation

**Part 4 – The Transformation**

Cautiously he steps back inside to see this exquisitely machined beast that is sitting atop a perch of some kind. It is much larger than he is; he is not even as big as the head that sits open, waiting, waiting to be started up.

'This is better than a fighter jet, helicopter and this blimp combined. It is the next step in extending life, turning yourself into a machine so when Sly is dead, you will remain.' She finishes.

Sly, it is the only fragment he understands and it makes him filled with hatred.

It mouth just sits wide open there, like it is waiting for something to come inside. That something is this ostrich. Carrying this chip and this gun he walks inside, wanting to see what is inside this huge bird, it is like another room. It is dark inside save for the light that coming from the outside. Suddenly, the mouth slams shut. It goes dark, afraid that he has been swallowed hole. Still holding the chip, he makes sure he is not dead when suddenly a light turns on, not from the bird but on the chip he is holding. The yellow light flashes on an off in a rhythmic fashion. He doesn't know what this means though.

Somehow, this red glow emanates from this chip; to him it looks like some evil sprit is coming to get him. Slowly the red glow fills the void inside this beast. Lights begin turning on, whirring and whining noises are heard from the giant owl groaning into life.

The spark has been lit.

What happens next is the amalgamation process, a bloody and gruesome process indeed, as this once naturally living ostrich is drained of all of their information in their mind. Neurons turned into bits, grey matter transferred onto green circuit boards and added already to the preloaded information and artificial intelligence already programmed into its computers. All he sees is the red tinted screen with all the data he could want.

'Running system check.' The bird blurts out involuntarily. Somehow he understand what this means and it is the same language as he heard before. Now he has become better than he could ever be, and in this new form, he thinks he has turned into the perfect being to rid the earth of Slytunkahmen. He tries to move from this position and only succeeds in jumping up into the roof and causing a cave in, a colossal amount of sand falls into the room, burying this mechanical owl beneath several metres of sand.

Somehow he can feel the weight of all this sand on his body, then for some strange reason, he can't. Whenever he thinks about the sand and it's weight, he can feel it but when he doesn't, this sensation goes away. He tries to move himself out form under this pile of sand but even this bird can't do that feat of strength.

Now, he thinks, he has been send to a very sandy grave trapped inside this strange sarcophagus. Naturally, he blames Slytunkahmen for this; getting him in such a deathly position completely poisons what good of him was left. On the heads up display, the power level rises and rises. The ostrich can only think of all the things he would do to the raccoon if he got out of here. The power bar rises to maximum capacity, then some more, overloading the system.

Get him.

The bird leaps up now out of the sandy grave like the sand has turned to air as it is all shoved outwards into the cabin. The bird effortlessly fights his way out of the grave and flies into the air, casting a large shadow in the setting sun.

**Part - 5 The Epilogue**

It is only the first night of which Clockwerk will reign terror on the Coopers, or at least try to. For years he will try to exact revenge that he wanted so much, for centuries he failed at every attempt and for millennia his spirit was never crushed as it was that feeling that he would get revenge that would keep him alive for 1,205,690 days longer (3301 years), even if he didn't realise it at the start.


End file.
